SAN FERNANDO : Ex-Planning Official to Continue Input

Julian Medrano will get to see the San Fernando Planning Commission from the other side of the dais tonight.

Medrano resigned from the commission two months before the end of his yearlong appointment as chairman. Marisela Torres, a schoolteacher with three years experience on the commission, now chairs the panel.

“I resigned more for personal reasons than for anything else,” said Medrano, a 32-year-old personnel consultant who was born and raised in San Fernando.

Now, he said, he would attend tonight’s meeting, and future commission gatherings, strictly as a private citizen. “I’ll be the one lighting the fires now,” he quipped. “I will be critical of anyone who is not willing to put their reputation on the line and do what’s right.”

More than anything else, tough economic times prompted him to concentrate more on business, Medrano said.

“We used to do personnel consulting for aerospace,” he said. “That in itself should tell you something. Some of our largest clients have left the state of California. Unfortunately, it’s trickled down to firms like myself.”

Medrano’s firm, USA Hire, which he created seven years ago, has slimmed down to almost a two-person operation, he said.

His tenure as commission chairman was marked by several heated and divisive issues, including an alcoholic beverage ordinance that pitted business owners against residents. The landmark regulation, passed this year, makes it much tougher to sell alcohol in San Fernando, where the number of such outlets far exceeds the national per-capita average.

“It became a landmark,” said Medrano, who credited community groups for offering their own drafts. “We’ve had communities from Florida to San Bernardino County call and ask for copies of it.”

Although the planning panel locked horns occasionally with the City Council over issues and responsibilities, relations generally were good during Medrano’s tenure, said Howard Miura, San Fernando’s director of community development. The City Council will seek nominees to fill the vacancy on the five-member appointed panel.